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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

I am desperately seeking reviewers! I get so many great offers to review books and they all sound so amazing. I wish my job didn't pull on so much on my time, but that is the reality of my life. Also, I wish I was a fast reader….but that isn't going to change after all these years. You might be able to teach an old dog a new trick, but you can't teach me to read faster!

I am looking for anyone who is interested in receiving free books/e-books for exchange for an honest review. I have a word document that would be completely once you have finished the book and I do the rest. There will be no compensation exchanged for a book review. The book/e-book is yours to keep.

If interested, please leave a comment to this post or email me at SeasideBookNook@ yahoo.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Synopsis (from Amazon): One part Sex and the City. Two parts Desperate Housewives. Three parts Brothers Grimm.Imagine what might happen if our most beloved fairy tale princesses were the best of friends and had the dreams, dilemmas, and libidos of the modern woman. How would their stories unfold after the wedding bells stopped ringing? Set in a fictional realm based on New York City, DESPERATELY EVER AFTER sprinkles women’s fiction with elements of fantasy, and encourages readers to rethink everything they know about happy endings.

Years after turning her husband from beast back to man and becoming his queen, Belle finds out she’s finally going to have a child. But before she can announce the wondrous news, she catches him cheating and watches her “happily ever after” go up in flames. Turning to her friends for the strength to land with grace, she realizes she’s not the only one at a crossroads:

Cinderella, a mother of four drowning in royal duties, is facing her 30th birthday and questioning everything she’s done (or hasn’t) with her life.

Rapunzel, a sex-crazed socialite and one-woman powerhouse, is on a self-destructive quest to make up for 20 years locked away in a tower.

Penelopea, an outsider with a mother-in-law from hell, is harboring a secret that could ruin everything at any moment.

One part Sex and the City, two parts Desperate Housewives, and three parts Brothers Grimm, DESPERATELY EVER AFTER picks up where the original tales left off—and reimagines them a la Gregory Maguire’s Wicked. With the wit of authors like Jennifer Weiner and the vision of ABC’s Once Upon a Time, the women of DESPERATELY EVER AFTER rescue each other from life’s trials with laughter, wine, and a scandalous new take on happily ever after.

I am so bummed that I am swamped right now and can't just spend the day reading Desperately Ever After. It is just the type of book I would LOVE! I can't wait to read it. In the meantime, let me introduce you to Laura Kenyon, the awesome author!!

Laura Kenyon is an award-winning journalist and graduate of Boston College (go Eagles!). Her stories and articles have appeared in Kiwi Magazine, Westchester Magazine, Just Labs, Serendipity, The Improper Bostonian, and Westchester/Hudson Valley Weddings, as well as in myriad newspapers and at PrickoftheSpindle.com. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and their silver Labrador retriever, who's about as well behaved as Beast. DESPERATELY EVER AFTER is her first novel.

I am excited to share this author interview with you all!

Favorite
color, food, drink and animal?

Burgundy,
pizza, a giant glass of red wine, and definitely dogs.

SBN: We are in the market for a dog - after 6 years of not having one….am I ready for this? Let's hope so!

What do you enjoy
doing in your free time?

Hiking
(with my dog!), DIY crafts, online shopping (guilty pleasure), and
reading—although I never seem to have enough free time to do that!

SBN: Laura, I will leave the hiking to you and Shadow, but I love DIY crafts and shopping of any kind, except grocery shopping!

When/Why did
you start writing?

I
think I’ve been writing ever since I was able to put the letters together! My
mind is constantly imagining stories and characters. I’m always watching people
and wondering “what if…” Honestly, if I didn’t put the ideas down on paper, I
feel like they would just build up inside of me and explode one day!

SBN: I am so jealous.

What is your
favorite writing spot?

I
have an office in my house with a little nook for my desk and a bed for my dog
Shadow at my feet. When it’s cold or drab, that’s my favorite spot. But when
summer rolls around and I can bring my laptop outside and toss Shadow tennis
balls from the deck, that is definitely my favorite.

SBN: I am picturing that deck on a nice summer day, while it is a high of 11 degrees in NY-winter can't end soon enough.

Do you have
writing routine?

Sit
with the intention of typing for hours. Get distracted. Open Word document.
Decide I need more coffee. Come back and type a few sentences. Check email. Get
distracted. Write more... It pretty much goes like that all day.

SBN: Sounds like my day at the office, just toss in a meeting or two!

Who are some
of your favorite authors?

Allie
Larkin, Jennifer Weiner, and Jane Austen

SBN: I will have to check out Allie, I am not familiar with her work, after I read Desperately Ever After, of course!

Can you read
other books while writing your own?

Only
if I’m being forced to take a break (vacation) or forcing myself to take a
break (between drafts). So I guess that’s a no. It’s very unfortunate!

What are
currently (or last read) reading now?

I
was working on Gone Girl, but I just
put it down because I was having a tough time getting into it (probably because
I’m also writing the sequel to Desperately
Ever After!) However, I’m going on vacation very soon and plan to start and
finish both Allie Larkin’s Why Can’t I Be
You and at least the prequels to Jason Mott’s The Returned. I hope to make it to The Returned as well, but we’ll see how much time I have. Once the
vacation ends, it’s back to writing!

SBN: I had a hard time with Gone Girl. I can't put my finger on it, but I thought it was because of they hype it had gotten before I listened to it (I did the audio version!).

What is your
favorite genre?

I
suppose you’d categorize my favorite books as “women’s fiction,” though I’m
still not sure why there’s no “men’s fiction” to go along with that. I love fun
or moving stories about “real” people (Allie Larkin’s Stay, Jennifer Weiner’s Goodnight
Nobody, Liz Gilbert’s Eat, Pray,
Love), as well as completely fantastical sagas like The Hunger Games and Harry
Potter, and some historical fiction (The
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was a winner). But generally,
I read to escape into another world or to laugh at life—not to be depressed by
it.

SBN: Totally agree!

What is your
favorite(s) song/movie/play/TV show?

Hmm,
that’s not as easy as “color” and “animal.” While I love huge action epics like
“Independence Day” and “Lord of the Rings,” if I could only choose one, I’d say
my favorite movie is “Love Actually.” I could watch that a hundred times. My
favorite song would be in the classic rock genre, but there are too many great
ones to choose from! I’m not very into plays, but absolutely love musicals, so
that would have to go to either “Les Miserables” or “Newsies” (I was a HUGE fan
of the 1992 film, and just recently saw the Broadway show, which was
phenomenal). And TV show: “I Love Lucy,” hands down. Always and forever ;)

SBN: I was just in Jamestown, NY - the home of Lucy! How funny is that? Not as funny as Lucy!

If you could
go anywhere for vacation/holiday, where would you go?

Tuscany.
My husband and I went there for our honeymoon and it was amazing. I can’t wait
to go back.

Which would
you pick:

Ocean/beach or
pool – Ocean/beach

Coffee or tea
– Definitely coffee

Fruit or candy
– I know the right answer, but I do have a sweet tooth…

A book or
e-book – Book!!!

Computer or
tablet/smart phone – Computers are so much better for
typing

Camping or
Hoteling – I do enjoy camping, but given the choice
would pick a warm shower and cozy bed

Driving or
Flying – Flying is stressful, but I start to go crazy
if stuck in a car for more than six hours (my husband can vouch for that, and
would probably say it’s more like three hours). So it depends on the length of
the trip.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

~ I received a copy of this book from the publisher or author to facilitate this review. I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis (from Amazon):Part-time actress, full-time party girl Lorelei Branch isn’t famous yet, but she’s perfected a Hollywood lifestyle full of clubbing, fashion, and the latest juice cleanse. When Robin, her sister-in-law and agent, throws a plum job her way, Lorelei jumps at the chance and auditions to be the new girl on television’s hottest reality show, Flo’s Studio.

Enter Colleen, Lorelei’s pill-popping mother, who wants nothing more than to see her daughter win the fame and glory she never had a chance to pursue herself. But Lorelei’s dream of becoming the next reality star is dashed when she loses the spot on Flo’s Studio to a stunning African woman. In an attempt to defend her daughter against what she calls a rigged contest, Colleen goes ballistic and delivers a racist rant on live television, sparking a national media frenzy. Lorelei flees the limelight, humiliated and broke, with her slacker boyfriend Don and heads for Reno where she begins to self-destruct.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Branch family starts to come apart at the seams. Colleen and her husband, Carl, are quietly drifting apart. Darren, Lorelei’s older half-brother, is stuck in Florida working on a contentious film set while his wife, Robin, continues the tedious regimen of fertility drugs meant to help them conceive a child. Desperate to bring the family together again and make things right, Colleen hatches a plan to stage an intervention for Lorelei on the reality show Real Happy Family. Soon the entire Branch family is entangled in a mission to bring the prodigal daughter back into the fold.

Will Lorelei ever forgive Colleen? Will Real Happy Family air their most sensational intervention yet? All roads lead to a seedy Reno hotel room, where a reality TV crew is waiting.

One (or more) Sentence Summary:Dysfunctional family at its best! Every single person in Real Happy Family is dealing past, present and (potential) future baggage. I had to keep reading to see how the outcome would impact them all. I wasn't disappointed.

Favorite Character(s): My favorite character is Robin, Lorelei's sister-in-law and agent. I was cheering for her (and Darren) the most.

Setting: LA and Reno - perfect setting for the book.

Fast read/slow read: Middle of the road - not fast, but not slow either.

Cover: The cover reminds me more of Miami than LA.

What Others Are Saying: Check out what others are saying on the TLC Book Tours for Real Happy Family.